November 20, 1885.] 



sciujsrcu. 



447 



satisfactory collections, and so prompt and useful a 

 report, could not have come about without quali- 

 ties of a liigh order in both the party and its chief. 

 That the magnetic and astronomical observations 

 were less precise than could be wished seems to 

 have been the result of circumstances beyond the 

 control of the members of the party. 



HORSE-BREEDING. 



M. Alasoniere has written a very sensible 

 little book upon horse-breeding, which has been 

 honored with a medal by the French national 

 agricultui'al society. He gives first a discriminat- 

 ing account of the points which mark a good 

 horse, and then proceeds to characterize the two 

 principal equine types, speed and strength being 

 their respective characteristics, or, according to 

 his more elaborate definition, ' type ^ etendue de 

 contraction' and ' type a intensite de contraction.' 

 His central idea as to the breeding is that the two 

 types should not be mingled, because in the off- 

 spring incongruity results, one part of the animal 

 inheriting its quahties from the mother, another 

 part from the father. The wisdom of this precept 

 he enforces by a discussion of the iTdes to be fol- 

 lowed for the amehoration by breeding of special 

 parts of the animal, and maintains that injudi- 

 cious mixing of the two types produces horses of 

 an incongruous build. To put the matter more 

 bluntly, to get good colts the mare and stallion 

 should resemble one another, else the colt will be 

 a hodge-podge of qualities not harmonious. 



The treatise is pleasantly written, and, though 

 not properly a scientific work, is still valuable 

 for, if we may be pardoned the phrase, its good 

 horse sense, and we take pleasure in commending 

 it to the notice of those engaged in rearing horses 

 in this country. 



ELECTROTECHNICAL HANDBOOK. 



Dr. Kitttler's book, of which the first part of 

 "vol. i. has just appeared, will be welcomed by 

 every one who has to do with any of the applica- 

 tions of electricity to the arts. It begins with a 

 consideration of the phenomena and laws of in- 

 duction, giving particular attention to the special 

 cases that are of importance in the operation of 

 the telephone and dynamo-machine, and then 

 proceeds to discuss at length the various separate 

 parts of the dynamo-machine, and indicates the 

 points especially to be observed in their construc- 



Amelioration de Vespece chevaline par des accouplements 

 raisonnes. Par L. Alasoniere. Paris, BailUere, 1685. 15+156 

 p. 8°. 



Handbuch der elektrotechnik. Bearbeitet von Dr. E. 

 KiTTLER. Stuttgart, Enke, 1885. 8°. 



tion. The circumstances influencing the magne- 

 tization of soft iron — as the dimensions of the 

 piece, the strength of the magnetizing current, 

 and the quality of the iron — are next analyzed. 

 Most of the remainder of that portion of the book 

 as far as issued is occupied by a lengthy and de- 

 tailed description of the principal forms of elec- 

 trical measuring instruments. Their theory and 

 construction are somewhat minutely considered, 

 and most of the important special forms of instru- 

 ment are figured. A fist of a few of these will 

 best show the character and comjDleteness of the 

 work. We notice, among others, Kolfirausch's 

 bridge for use with a telephone, Siemens's modi- 

 fication of Thomson's bridge for measurement of 

 low resistances, several forms of Wiedemann's 

 galvanometer with copper dampers, Obach's cosine 

 galvanometer, Siemens and Halske's convenient 

 form of Thomson's mirror galvanometer, and 

 D'Assarval and Deprez's aperiodic galvanometer. 

 All of the leading forms of current and potential 

 galvanometers for technical purposes are described, 

 including several which we have not seen else- 

 where, except in the original papers. 



The work is written (as should be the case with 

 a work of this kind) for students possessing a 

 good knowledge of physics and mathematics. It 

 would be of great advantage to American students 

 of electrotechnics if some of our publishers would 

 issue a translation of this work. We are sui-e that 

 it would meet a much-felt want. 



FROM PALERMO TO TUNIS. 



One of the pleasantest of the many deHghtful 

 trips aside from the beaten track — to which 

 Americans in Europe caref uUy cling — is that from 

 Naples to Tunis by way of Palermo and ]\Ialta. 

 Besides seeing the Sicihan capital — a splendid 

 city in itself and renowned throughout Italy for 

 the beauty of its women — and Malta, the dwell- 

 ing place of one of the most remarkabls races of 

 the Mediterranean, one gets a glimpse of oriental 

 life in all its filth and pictm'esqueness for a frac- 

 tion of the time and money requu-ed for a visit to 

 Cairo or Constantinople. 



With regard to Malta, the fact wliich most 

 impressed itself upon M. Melon's note-book — for 

 this little volume pretends to be notliing but a 

 collection of notes — was the signal failm-e of the 

 English to assimilate the native population. To 

 use his own words : " After eighty years of dom- 

 ination the line of demarcation between the 

 Maltese and the English, then- masters, is as 

 sharply defined as on the first day." The gi-eater 



De Palerme a Tunis. By Paul Melon. Paris, Plo7i, 

 Nourrit <& Cie, 1885. 212 p., illustr. 12°. 



